July 17: MORE FUN AT VALDEZ

Hi everyone. You already saw the fantastic catch of sockeye salmon (reds) that Chris made on Saturday at Alison Point, on Prince William Sound, outside of Valdez. OK...the plan for the rest of the day was as follows. We went into Valdez; saw the museum about the Good Friday, 1964 earthquake that devestated Alaska and also wiped out Valdez. Then we did a bit of shopping, found a church for Mass. We attended Mass at 7 pm; priest was a "circuit" priest; the parish has no pastor, but does have a permanent deacon who does Communion services when no priest is available. Then we went back to Aison Point, set up camp, had dinner (pics follow) and then rest for a couple of hours before going fishing at midnight to catch his limit of reds for Sunday. So, here goes: The view of the Prince William Sound was really nice; at least the clouds were high. I can just imagine how spectacular it would be on a clear day. The terminal end of the trans Alaska pipeline was about a quarter mile up the road. That’s where the oil is loaded onto freighters. Personally I would built a refinery there, too. (But they didn’t ask me!)

Doesn’t he look happy??? He went down to fish and I crawled in the truck and went to sleep.

These big guys were so noisy while getting their fill of the sockeye salmon (also called red salmon). When Chris fished at midnight for Sunday’s limit of fish, the tide was out, so the water was shallow. The seals came right up and were ½ out of the water. They were huge, noisey with their barking and so close that Chris was concerned about casting his line out and hitting one in the nose! I couldn’t take a picture cuz it was dark….imagine that. Because it was overcast and we are a lot more south than Willow.

Cleaning fish in the dark is not much fun. I guess the old addage still holds true: he who plays, must pay. We just threw the fillets in a plastic bag and put them on ice, then drove back to camp, popped up the camper and got to bed about 3 a.m. We washed and dried the fillets in the morning.

Lots of commercial fishing boats in the sound.

There are loads of eagles around looking for their dinner. I just loved getting their pictures. They are so majestic, even though they are vultures.

I’ve had a taste for hot dogs on the grill for a long time. Finally, my day came on Saturday eve. Our little grill has come in so handy. It cost me about $6 on ebay a couple of years ago. I think that it was meant for single use, like for tail-gaiting. It fits nicely into a 1 gallon plastic zip lock bag. But we have been cooking lots of king salmon on it. It has served us well. Hot dogs were yummy, too.

Note to Doc Paige: our cholesterol is going to be in great shape when you check it this fall….d/t the TONS of salmon we are eating almost every day…sometimes twice. Leftovers make great salmon-spread on sandwiches. :)

This is a HUGE carving in Valdez. You can tell the enormity with comparing it to the single story building behind it. The artist has done these “whispering giants” (all are 20-40 ft. tall) in all 50 states, and they honoring native Americans.

We could only have 6 salmon plus 6 in possession....so therefore Chris was done fishing. We have to do something with the 12 fish we now have. We called one of the rangers, and will be borrowing his pressure canner. After crawling into bed at 3 am after the midnight fishing run, we didn't get up until 8:30 am; and had to wash, dry and pack the salmon from the night fishing. Leaing Valdez we headed north and stopped in Chitina, a town we visited the last time, but I wanted to return to a store to get another "Alaska book" I'm enjoying reading. Will post pictures from there the next time I blog (i.e. they are still in the camera. I got these pics ready for the blog while we were traveling.) When it started raining, we decided we didn't want to camp in the rain and just kept on driving. We returned to Nancy Lake Maintence Yard (home base) about 9 p.m. after driving 360 miles today. Canning jars were purchased at WalMart on the way past.

Now to cuddle down in bed for a long night's rest. It should be a unique day tomorrow ....canning in the camper...????

So, until we "connect" again....